How to Ensure Your PC Hard Drive is Encrypted
- Brian Hinds (Unlicensed)
- Joshua Barber
Introduction
This page describes the process of how to ensure your Windows computer's hard drive is encrypted with BitLocker. This is critical for data security as an unencrypted hard drive can be easily removed, connected to another computer and have its data copied. An encrypted hard drive cannot be accessed from another computer without the individual having the computer user's password.
Note: BitLocker is provided on every Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise and Education, but is not available on Windows 10 Home edition at this time. Biola computers have BitLocker available and should be enabled by default. You will need to be aware of which version of Windows 10 you are using if you are working from a personal computer.
How to Ensure Your PC Hard Drive is Encrypted
| Step | What to do | How to do it |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Press the Windows key on your keyboard. | |
| 2 | Search for and select Manage BitLocker from the search results. | |
| 4 | Confirm the words C: Bitlocker on appear on the BitLocker Drive Encryption window. Note: You will need to turn BitLocker on if it is not on already. | How to turn on BitLocker to encrypt your drive:
|